Page 15 of Where the Shadows Land (Garden of Hope #1)

“It’s time for me to start living again.

I must try, at least. If not for myself, then for the memory of Damien.

I’ve spent too long in the dark, unmoving like the dead.

” Astoria stood in front of Mairuk and placed a hand on their shoulder.

“You brought me peace and reminded me what it’s like to feel anything other than hopeless. Thank you.”

“If we are honest with ourselves, we have not lived much in recent years, either. Work for the sake of work is not life. Incandescent told us this many times,” Mairuk said.

“We deserve a future in the light,” Astoria said.

“Live or not, life continues either way.” Mairuk placed their large hand on Astoria’s side and nodded once. “The future is forward. We will not allow our loved ones to depart from memory as we work toward the light. We will share memories of our dear ones and give them life anew.”

Astoria took one step in between Mairuk’s spread legs and wrapped her arms around their neck in a hug.

They froze, stunned for a heartbeat, then they returned her soft embrace.

Sitting on the side of the garden bed, they were still taller than her.

Mairuk’s arms were so thick that their embrace nearly swallowed her.

There was something nice about feeling as small as she did in their arms. Protected, almost. She leaned into them, humming.

Their skin and mushroom growths were soft against her and pliable under her weight.

Up close, their colors were more vibrant, their features more brutal and beautiful.

Mairuk’s alien face was so unlike that of a human, but the more of it she saw, the more Astoria liked it.

The sharp triangular edge of Mairuk’s jaw was strange, but it suited them.

The fibers on their face were thinner and less pronounced.

At the base of their neck, the blue ring hummed with magic, and pale light stretched over their strange cheeks, past their three pink eyes, and to the underside of their cap.

Their gills fluttered, and Astoria’s mouth hung open.

The afternoon sun bathed Mairuk in warm golden light, and their multicolor skin gleamed.

They were beautiful and broken in so many of the same ways she was, yet they were also strong and wise.

Astoria hadn’t felt anything other than her suffering for so long, yet in Mairuk’s presence other emotions came alive.

Anger, curiosity, desire, warmth, hope .

Mairuk breathed their magic into her lungs to heal her by brushing their lips over hers.

The faintest touch of their mouth called forth all the feelings she thought were lost to her forever.

A wild, rebellious part of her wondered what would happen if she kissed them.

If their magic could heal her body, could their touch help ease her mind?

Gods, such a thought was downright sinful. Perhaps the worse one she allowed, but she couldn’t help wondering. After two years lost in the dark and gray, Mairuk’s touch brought color back to her, life back to her. Was it so wrong for her to want more?

Astoria couldn’t go back to the grief and pain.

She was sick of suffering. Mairuk’s hands on her body and their proximity sent a rush of wild tingles through her.

Every touch of theirs brought more life back to her bones, and she was just as starved for it as the land they stood on.

She needed more, more of this feeling. Astoria leaned up and crashed her lips into theirs .

The moment their lips touched, a rush of cool energy washed over her body and lit her with burning flames of desire.

They tasted like rain, magic, and like being alive.

Mairuk grunted and lifted her body into their lap.

Astoria deepened the kiss, wrapping as much of herself around them as she could.

She drank in more of their taste and ground into them.

Every bump and ridge of their skin rubbed through the leather she wore and branded her down to her skin.

Each moment she stayed connected to their lips, the more the bright, dazed feeling built in her.

Gods, kissing them was bliss. Joy and peace.

A small part of Astoria understood that whatever was happening was some sort of magic, but she didn’t care.

Not when Mairuk opened their mouth and gave her their tongue.

Thin and tubular, it had the same texture as the rest of their skin, but rougher.

Astoria couldn’t get enough of their taste.

She ground her body into theirs, seeking more friction.

She burned, her nipples hard and aching against the thin cloth band she tied around her chest. This was what it felt like to be alive.

This is what it felt like to dream and hope and want.

Feelings that became foreign memories now blazed back to life in her blood.

Magic or not, the sensations that rushed through her were everything she needed.

She rocked into them as her desire built.

They pulled her tight against their body, one of their hands falling low to the round globe of her ass.

They squeezed, the pressure deep and firm enough to leave a warm burn of pain.

“Astoria,” Mairuk’s multilayered voice moaned in her mind.

The caress against her consciousness stoked the flames of her desire higher, and she vibrated from head to toe. Astoria moaned into the kiss, the heat under her skin unbearable with the leather on her body. “Please touch me, Mairuk. Please. More.”

“We are touching you, vixen.” Mairuk’s tongue dipped down her neck as they ground their hips up into hers, and something writhed against her core. “What other touches can we provide? ”

“Touch my skin. Touch inside me,” Astoria panted.

What in the hells do the Rholctai have in their pants?

It didn’t matter, really. They had long fingers thicker than all but the most well-endowed men.

Those were enough. Astoria’s need was a living thing inside her, thrumming and writhing low in her stomach.

Whatever magic was at play, it made her drip with need beyond anything she ever experienced before.

They only kissed and touched over her clothes, yet Astoria was close. So achingly close. “Mairuk. Please .”

Mairuk froze, and Astoria whined her frustration.

One brush of a finger against her clit, and she’d come.

Hells, if they kept kissing her like that, she’d come.

Instead of bringing her to blissful release, Mairuk untangled Astoria from them and set her down with slow, gentle movements.

Astoria clung to them, unwilling to let the source of her need and hope out of her arms, but they were stronger and freed themselves from her with ease.

“You have been through much. You do not seem like yourself,” Mairuk said slowly.

“I feel so good when you touch me. That’s why I don’t seem like myself. Everything is bright and beautiful. I need more Mairuk, please.”

Mairuk tilted their cap to the side and shuddered. All the fibers of their body swelled to a bright, shocking pink that made Astoria’s core clench around nothing. They placed their hands on their cap and backed away from her. “We have not spoken to many humans and we do not understand.”

“You don’t have to. I want you to touch me. Your touch feels so good. Isn’t that enough?”

Mairuk knelt down to meet her gaze and swept the fallen strands of her hair back over her shoulders.

Their pink eyes gleamed bright under their cap as they held her gaze.

“If you still want us to touch you after sunset, return here. We will touch you once we are certain you want it in your right mind. Pleasure will not fix your aches, Astoria. ”

Mairuk rose and took long, heavy strides back to the village, leaving Astoria rejected and alone in the dirt.